XC70 goes into 'Limp Mode'
 

Hello,

I have a 2001 XC 70 that has done around 100 000 KM. It had a full service around 5000 km ago.

Yesterday while driving at around 80km, the car would not respond to the the accelerator peddle and appeared to shut down into some sort of 'limp mode' where it woudl not go over 40 km/h or 2000 rpm.

I am new to volvos and XC70's. Is this a standard feature to protect the car? If so how do i find out what caused it.

The car now appears to work fine. However, i thought i would start the info trail early so as to avoid having a one sided converstation with a mechanic who needs to reach his end of month target.

Background. I recently had a problem with a very small oil leak from the rear clutch/damper. This was 'solved' by replacing a seal (genuine parts used). At the same time i had two new rear tire put on (i only mention this as problems relating to this seem to appear regularly in the threads).

When investigating this problem with the rear clutch, one volvo dealer told me that it was the seal but that you could not replace the seal and had to buy a whole new clutch. Surely this cannot be correct?

In addition, when turing with full lock on, at very low speeds, there appears to be a surge between front and rear drive. I cannot now rememeber if this happened before or whether it is normal for AWD cars.

Any help you can put forward is appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

ETM issue? Do you have a service light on? 2001's are notorious for faulty ETM's. They have a contacting potentiometer that wears out and fails. Look at your throttle body and check the label. If it's white, it is likely the original ETM and this is the issue. I drove mine for 4 months with a warning light and waited until limp mode before having it repaired. Volvo warranties this repair for 10 years from date of manufacture.

Thanks for the info. No serivce light or warning lights on at the time or since. I will look out for it next time it happens. Any ball park estimate on price?

Thanks
Mike

If it is the ETM and you are within the 10 years 200,000 mile warranty it is FREE if not then it is about 1K for a new one.